Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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METHOD, TERMINAL, SERVER, AND SYSTEM FOR MULTIPLE
TERMINALS TO SHARE VIRTUAL SIM CARD
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No.
201310329442.6, filed with the Chinese Patent Office on July 31, 2013 and
entitled
"METHOD, TERMINAL, SERVER, AND SYSTEM FOR MULTIPLE TERMINALS TO
SHARE VIRTUAL SIM CARD".
TECHNICAL HELD
The present invention relates to the field of computer and communications
technologies,
and in particular, to a method, a terminal, a server, and a system for
multiple terminals to
share a virtual subscriber identity module SIM (Subscriber Identity Module)
card.
BACKGROUND
At present, with the rapid development of communications technologies and
mobile
terminals, a common subscriber may have multiple mobile terminals, such as
multiple mobile
phones or multiple tablet computers. Therefore, subscribers want to share one
SIM card
between multiple terminals.
If a subscriber using a physical SIM card wants to share the SIM card among
multiple
mobile terminals, the subscriber needs to manually take out the physical SIM
card from one
terminal and install the physical SIM card on another mobile terminal. It is
troublesome to
manually take out and install the physical SIM card. If the subscriber needs
to switch the
physical SIM card between multiple mobile terminals frequently, it is very
inconvenient.
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SUMMARY
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, a terminal, a server,
and a
system for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM card, so as to simplify
operation steps for
the multiple terminals to share the virtual SIM card.
In order to solve the foregoing technical problem, the embodiments of the
present
invention disclose the following technical solutions:
According to a first aspect, a method for multiple terminals to share a
virtual subscriber
identity module SIM card is provided, where a first terminal and a second
terminal store data
of a same virtual SIM card, and the method includes:
receiving a request, sent by the first terminal, for enabling the virtual SIM
card, where
the request for enabling the virtual SIM card includes a virtual SIM card
identifier;
determining, according to the virtual SIM card identifier, whether the second
terminal
has enabled the virtual SIM card; and
enabling the virtual SIM card for the first terminal if the second terminal
has not enabled
the virtual SIM card.
In a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the
determining, according
to the virtual SIM card identifier, whether the second terminal has enabled
the virtual SIM
card is:
querying an enabling relationship table according to the virtual SIM card
identifier to
determine whether the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, where
the enabling
relationship table includes the virtual SIM card identifier, a terminal
identifier, and an
enabling indication.
In a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the request
for enabling
the virtual SIM card further includes a subscriber identity; and
before the determining, according to the virtual SIM card identifier, whether
the second
terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, the method further includes:
determining whether a subscription relationship exists between the subscriber
identity
and the virtual SIM card identifier, and if the subscription relationship
exists between the
subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier, performing the step
of determining,
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according to the virtual SIM card identifief, whether the second terminal has
enabled the
virtual SIM card.
In a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, after the
enabling the
virtual SIM card for the first terminal, the method further includes the
following steps:
receiving a request, sent by the first terminal, for disabling the virtual SIM
card, where
the request for disabling the virtual SIM card includes a subscriber identity,
a terminal
identifier of the first terminal, and the virtual SIM card identifier; and
determining whether a subscription relationship exists between the subscriber
identity
and the virtual SIM card identifier; if the subscription relationship exists
between the
subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier, determining,
according to the terminal
identifier of the first terminal and the virtual SIM card identifier, whether
the first terminal
has enabled the virtual SIM card; and if the first terminal has enabled the
virtual SIM card,
disabling the virtual SIM card for the first terminal.
In a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, before the
first terminal
stores the virtual SIM card, the method further includes the following steps:
receiving a request, sent by the first terminal, for subscribing to the
virtual SIM card,
where the request for subscribing to the virtual SIM card includes a
subscriber identity and
the virtual SIM card identifier;
generating an order according to the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM
card
identifier, and sending an order number of the order to the first terminal,
where the order
includes the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier;
receiving a payment result notification that is fed back by a third-party
payment server
according to a payment request sent by the first terminal, where both the
payment request and
the payment result notification include the order number; and
determining, according to the payment result notification, whether the first
terminal has
paid successfully, and if the first terminal has paid successfully, obtaining
the subscriber
identity and the virtual SIM card identifier in the corresponding order
according to the order
number in the payment result notification, establishing a subscription
relationship between
the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier, and sending a
subscription success
message to the first terminal.
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With reference to the first aspect or any, one of the first possible
implementation manner
to the fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fifth
possible
implementation manner of the first aspect, after the determining, according to
the virtual SIM
card identifier, whether the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card,
the method
further includes:
if the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, preventing the first
terminal from
enabling the virtual SIM card.
With reference to the first aspect or any one of the first possible
implementation manner
to the fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a sixth
possible
implementation manner of the first aspect, after the determining, according to
the virtual SIM
card identifier, whether the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card,
the method
further includes:
if the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, enabling the virtual
SIM card for
the first terminal after disabling the virtual SIM card for the second
terminal.
According to a second aspect, a method for multiple terminals to share a
virtual SIM card
is provided, where a first terminal and a second terminal store data of a same
virtual SIM card,
and the method includes:
sending, by the first terminal, a request for enabling the virtual SLM card to
a virtual card
server, where the request for enabling the virtual SIM card includes a virtual
SIM card
identifier;
receiving, by the first terminal, an enabling response message that is sent by
the virtual
card server after determining, according to the virtual SIM card identifier,
whether the second
terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, where if the second terminal has
not enabled the
virtual SIM card, the enabling response message is an enabling success
message; and
enabling, by the first terminal, the virtual SIM card after receiving the
enabling success
message.
In a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, after the
enabling, by the
first terminal, the virtual SIM card, the method further includes the
following steps:
sending, by the first terminal, a request for disabling the virtual SIM card
to the virtual
card server, where the request for disabling the virtual SIM card includes a
subscriber identity,
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a terminal identifier of the first terminal, and,the virtual SIM card
identifier;
receiving, by the first terminal, a disabling response message that is sent by
the virtual
card server after determining whether a subscription relationship exists
between the
subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier and determining,
according to the
terminal identifier of the first terminal and the virtual SIM card identifier,
whether the first
terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, where if the subscription
relationship exists
between the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier and when
the first terminal
has enabled the virtual SIM card, the disabling response message is a
disabling success
message; and
disabling, by the first terminal, the virtual SIM card after receiving the
disabling success
message.
In a second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, before the
first
terminal stores the virtual SIM card, the method further includes the
following steps:
sending, by the first terminal, a request for subscribing to the virtual SIM
card to the
virtual card server, where the request for subscribing to the virtual SIM card
includes a
subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier;
receiving, by the first terminal, an order number that is sent by the virtual
card server
according to the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier;
sending, by the first terminal, a payment request to a third-party payment
server, where
the payment request includes the order number; and
receiving, by the first terminal, a subscription response message that is fed
back by the
virtual card server after determining, according to a payment result
notification sent by the
third-party payment server, whether the first terminal has paid successfully,
where the
payment result notification includes the order number, and if the payment
result notification
indicates that the first terminal has paid successfully, the subscription
response message is a
subscription success message.
According to a third aspect, a virtual card server is provided for
implementing that
multiple terminals share a virtual SIM card, where a first terminal and a
second terminal store
data of a same virtual SIM card, and the virtual card server includes a
communications unit
and a determining unit, where
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the communications unit is configured ;to receive a request, sent by a first
terminal, for
enabling the virtual SIM card, where the request for enabling the virtual SIM
card includes a
virtual SIM card identifier; and
the determining unit is configured to determine, according to the virtual SIM
card
identifier, whether the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card; and
enable the
virtual SIM card for the first terminal if the second terminal has not enabled
the virtual SIM
card.
In a first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the determining
unit is
configured to query an enabling relationship table according to the virtual
SIM card identifier
to determine whether the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card,
where the
enabling relationship table includes the virtual SIM card identifier, a
terminal identifier, and
an enabling indication.
In a second possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the request
for enabling
the virtual SIM card further includes a subscriber identity; and
correspondingly, the determining unit is further configured to determine
whether a
subscription relationship exists between the subscriber identity and the
virtual SIM card
identifier, and if the subscription relationship exists between the subscriber
identity and the
virtual SIM card identifier, perform the step of determining, according to the
virtual SIM card
identifier, whether the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card.
In a third possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the
communications unit is
further configured to receive a request, sent by a first terminal, for
disabling the virtual SIM
card, where the request for disabling the virtual SIM card includes a
subscriber identity, a
terminal identifier of the first terminal, and the virtual SIM card
identifier; and
the determining unit is further configured to determine whether a subscription
relationship exists between the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card
identifier; if the
subscription relationship exists between the subscriber identity and the
virtual SIM card
identifier, determine, according to the terminal identifier of the first
terminal and the virtual
SIM card identifier, whether the first terminal has enabled the virtual SIM
card; and if the
first terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, disable the virtual SIM card
for the first
terminal.
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In a fourth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the virtual
card server
further includes an order unit;
the communications unit is further configured to receive a request, sent by a
first terminal,
for subscribing to the virtual SIM card, where the request for subscribing to
the virtual SIM
card includes a subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier;
the order unit is configured to generate an order according to the subscriber
identity and
the virtual SIM card identifier, and send an order number of the order to the
first terminal,
where the order includes the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card
identifier;
the communications unit is further configured to receive a payment result
notification
that is fed back by a third-party payment server according to a payment
request sent by the
first terminal, where both the payment request and the payment result
notification include the
order number; and
the determining unit is further configured to determine, according to the
payment result
notification, whether the first terminal has paid successfully, and if the
first terminal has paid
successfully, obtain the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card
identifier in the
corresponding order according to the order number in the payment result
notification,
establish a subscription relationship between the subscriber identity and the
virtual SIM card
identifier, and send a subscription success message to the first terminal.
With reference to the third aspect or any one of the first possible
implementation manner
to the fourth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a fifth
possible
implementation manner of the third aspect, the determining unit is further
configured to:
when determining, according to the virtual SIM card identifier, whether the
second terminal
has enabled the virtual SIM card, and if the second terminal has enabled the
virtual SIM card,
prevent the first terminal from enabling the virtual SIM card.
With reference to the third aspect or any one of the first possible
implementation manner
to the fourth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a sixth
possible
implementation manner of the third aspect, when determining, according to the
virtual SIM
card identifier, whether the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card,
and if the
second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, the determining unit enables
the virtual
SIM card for the first terminal after disabling the virtual SIM card for the
second terminal.
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fi
According to a fourth aspect, a terminal,for implementing that multiple
terminals share a
virtual SIM card is provided, including a first terminal and a second terminal
that store data
of a same virtual SIM card, where the first terminal includes a communications
unit and a
management unit, where
the communications unit is configured to send a request for enabling the
virtual SIM card
to a virtual card server, where the request for enabling the virtual SIM card
includes a virtual
SIM card identifier, and
receive an enabling response message that is sent by the virtual card server
after
determining, according to the virtual SIM card identifier, whether the second
terminal has
enabled the virtual SIM card, where if the second terminal has not enabled the
virtual SIM
card, the enabling response message is an enabling success message; and
the management unit is configured to enable the virtual SIM card after the
communications unit receives the enabling success message.
In a first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the
communications unit
is further configured to send a request for disabling the virtual SIM card to
the virtual card
server, where the request for disabling the virtual SIM card includes a
subscriber identity, a
terminal identifier of the first terminal, and the virtual SIM card
identifier, and
receive a disabling response message that is sent by the virtual card server
after
determining whether a subscription relationship exists between the subscriber
identity and the
virtual SIM card identifier and determining, according to the terminal
identifier of the first
terminal and the virtual SIM card identifier, whether the first terminal has
enabled the virtual
SIM card, where if the subscription relationship exists between the subscriber
identity and the
virtual SIM card identifier and when the first terminal has enabled the
virtual SIM card, the
disabling response message is a disabling success message; and
the management unit is further configured to disable the virtual SIM card
after the
communications unit receives the disabling success message.
In a second possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the
communications
unit is further configured to send a request for subscribing to the virtual
SIM card to the
virtual card server, where the request for subscribing to the virtual SIM card
includes a
subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier, and
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receive an order number that is sent by the virtual card server according to
the subscriber
identity and the virtual SIM card identifier; send a payment request to a
third-party payment
server, where the payment request includes the order number; and receive a
subscription
response message that is fed back by the virtual card server after
determining, according to a
payment result notification sent by the third-party payment server, whether
the first terminal
has paid successfully, where the payment result notification includes the
order number, and if
the payment result notification indicates that the first terminal has paid
successfully, the
subscription response message is a subscription success message.
According to a fifth aspect, a system for multiple terminals to share a
virtual SIM card is
provided, where the system includes the foregoing virtual card server and the
foregoing
terminal. According to the method, the terminal, the server, and the system
for multiple
terminals to share a virtual SEVI card in the present invention, in the
method, a first terminal
and a second terminal store data of a same virtual SIM card; a request for
enabling the virtual
SIM card and sent by the first terminal is received, where the request for
enabling the virtual
SIM card includes a virtual SIM card identifier; it is determined, according
to the virtual SIM
card identifier, whether the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card;
and the virtual
SIM card is enabled for the first terminal if the second terminal has not
enabled the virtual
S1NI card. According to the method, the terminal, the server, and the system,
each terminal
that shares the virtual SIM card stores one virtual SIM card as described
above, and a virtual
card server manages and controls the terminals, so as to ensure that only one
of the terminals
uses the virtual SIM card to access a mobile network at a same moment, thereby
implementing that a plurality terminals of a same subscriber exclusively uses
one virtual SIM
card to access the mobile network, which simplifies operation steps for the
multiple terminals
to share the virtual SIM card.
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According to another aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving,
by a
virtual card server from a first terminal, a request for enabling a virtual
subscriber identity
module (SIM) card not having a corresponding physical SIM card, wherein the
request for
enabling the virtual SIM card comprises a virtual SIM card identifier, and
wherein the first
terminal stores first data of the virtual SIM card and a second terminal
stores second data of the
virtual SIM card; determining whether the second terminal has enabled the
virtual SIM card in
accordance with the virtual SIM card identifier; enabling the virtual SIM card
for the first
terminal when the second terminal has not enabled the virtual SIM card; and
receiving a request
from the first terminal, for disabling the virtual SIM card, after enabling
the virtual SIM card
for the first terminal, wherein the request for disabling the virtual SIM card
comprises a
subscriber identity, a terminal identifier of the first terminal, and the
virtual SIM card identifier.
According to another aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving,
by a
virtual card server from a first terminal, a request for enabling a virtual
SIM card, wherein
the request for enabling the virtual SIM card comprises a virtual SIM card
identifier and a
subscriber identity, and wherein the first terminal stores first data of the
virtual SIM card and
a second terminal stores second data of the virtual SIM card; determining
whether a
subscription relationship exists between a subscriber identity and the virtual
SIM card
identifier; determining whether the second terminal has enabled the virtual
SIM card in
accordance with the virtual SIM card identifier, after determining whether the
subscription
relationship exists between the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card
identifier; and
enabling the virtual SIM card for the first terminal when the second terminal
has not enabled
the virtual SIM card.
According to another aspect, there is provided a method comprising: sending,
by a first
terminal to a virtual card server, a request for enabling a virtual subscriber
identity module
(SIM) card not having a corresponding physical SIM card, wherein the request
for enabling
the virtual SIM card comprises a virtual SIM card identifier, wherein the
first terminal stores
first data of the virtual SIM card, and wherein a second terminal stores
second data of the
virtual SIM card; determining whether the second terminal has enabled the
virtual SIM
card; receiving, by the first terminal from the virtual card server, an
enabling response
message after determining whether the second terminal has enabled the virtual
SIM card,
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wherein, when the second terminal has not enabled the virtual SIM card, the
enabling
response message is an enabling success message; enabling, by the first
terminal, the
virtual SIM card after receiving the enabling success message; and sending, by
the first
terminal to a virtual card server, a request for disabling the virtual SIM
card after enabling
the virtual SIM card, wherein the request for disabling the virtual SIM card
comprises a
subscriber identity, a terminal identifier of the first terminal, and the
virtual SIM card
identifier.
According to another aspect, there is provided a virtual card server
comprising: a
processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing
instructions for
execution by the processor, the instructions, when executed, causing the
following operations to
be performed: receive a request for enabling a virtual subscriber identity
module (SIM) card not
having a corresponding physical SIM card, from a first terminal; receive a
request for
disabling the virtual SIM card from the first terminal; receive a request for
subscribing to
the virtual SIM card from the first terminal; determine, in accordance with a
virtual SIM
card identifier, whether a second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card;
enable the
virtual SIM card for the first terminal after the request for enabling the
virtual SIM card from
the first terminal is received when the second terminal has not enabled the
virtual SIM card;
generate an order in accordance with a subscriber identity and the virtual SIM
card identifier
after the request for subscribing to the virtual SIM card from the first
terminal is received;
send an order number of the order to the first terminal, wherein the order
comprises the
subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier; and receive a payment
result
notification from a third-party payment server in accordance with a payment
request
received from the first terminal, wherein the payment request comprises an
order number
and the payment result notification comprises the order number.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present
invention or
in the prior art more clearly, the following briefly introduces the
accompanying drawings required
for describing the embodiments or the prior art. Apparently, the accompanying
drawings in
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the following description show some embodiments pf the present invention, and
a person of
ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawings from these
accompanying drawings
without creative efforts.
FIG 1 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;
FIG 2 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention;
FIG 3 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention;
FIG 4 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention;
FIG 5 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 8 of the present invention;
FIG 6 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 9 of the present invention;
FIG 7 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 10 of the present invention;
FIG 8 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 11 of the present invention;
FIG 9 is a schematic structural diagram of modules of a virtual card server
for
implementing that multiple terminals share a virtual SIM card according to
Embodiment 12
of the present invention;
FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a virtual card server for
implementing that
multiple terminals share a virtual SIM card according to Embodiment 15 of the
present
invention;
FIG 11 is a schematic structural diagram of modules of a first terminal for
implementing
that multiple terminals share a virtual SIM card according to Embodiment 18 of
the present
invention;
FIG 12 shows an embodiment of a virtual card server implemented based on a
computer
system; and
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FIG 13 shows an embodiment of a ficst terminal implemented based on a computer
system.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments
of the
present invention clearer, the following clearly describes the technical
solutions in the
embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying
drawings in the
embodiments of the present invention. Apparently, the described embodiments
are a part
rather than all of the embodiments of the present invention. All other
embodiments obtained
by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the
present invention
without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present
invention.
As mobile terminals gradually become popular, a common subscriber may have
multiple
mobile terminals, such as multiple mobile phones or multiple tablet computers.
Subscribers
want to conveniently share one SIM card between multiple terminals. The
present invention
provides a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM card. In the
method, the
multiple terminals share one virtual SIM card. That is, the multiple terminals
all download
data of the virtual SIM card. However, before each terminal wants to enable
the virtual SIIvI
card, that is, access a mobile network by using the virtual SIM card, each
terminal needs to
apply to a virtual card server; the virtual card server allows or prevents,
when it is ensured
that only one terminal accesses the mobile network by using the virtual SIM
card at a same
moment, enabling the virtual SIM card for the terminal that initiates the
application.
The following further describes specific implementation manners of the present
invention
in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and the embodiments. The
following
embodiments are used to describe the present invention and are not intended to
limit the
scope of the present invention.
Embodiment 1
FIG 1 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG 1, a first
terminal and
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a second terminal store data of a same virtual SIM card, and the method
includes the
following steps:
110. Receive a request, sent by the first terminal, for enabling the virtual
SIM card,
where the request for enabling the virtual SIM card includes a virtual SIM
card identifier.
Further, the method may be performed by a virtual card server. The first
terminal and the
second terminal are generally mobile terminals, such as mobile phones, and may
also be
non-mobile terminals, such as desktop computers. Moreover, the first terminal
and the second
terminal should support the virtual SIM card. Communication networks between
the first
terminal and the virtual card server and between the second terminal and the
virtual card
server may generally be wireless networks such as wireless fidelity WiFi
networks, and may
also be wired networks.
The first terminal may automatically obtain the virtual SIM card identifier
according to a
subscriber instruction, and generate the request for enabling the virtual SIM
card, and send
the request for enabling the virtual SIM card to the virtual card server. The
virtual SIM card
identifier may be an international mobile subscriber identity
(InternationalMobileSubscriberIdentificationNumber, IMSI), which is assigned
by an
operator.
120. Determine, according to the virtual SIM card identifier, whether the
second terminal
has enabled the virtual SIM card.
130. Enable the virtual SIM card for the first terminal if the second terminal
has not
enabled the virtual SIM card.
Further, it is possible that the second terminal that shares the virtual SIM
card has
enabled the virtual SIM card. Because of a limit of a mobile network of an
operator, only one
terminal is allowed to use the virtual SIM card to access the mobile network
at a same
moment. Therefore, the virtual card server needs to determine whether the
second terminal
has enabled the virtual SIM card; if the second terminal has not enabled the
virtual SIM card,
enables the virtual SIM card on the first terminal that currently sends the
request for enabling
the virtual SIM card, that is, modifies a corresponding enabling indication to
indicate that the
virtual SIM card is enabled on the first terminal that currently sends the
request for enabling
the virtual SIM card; and sends an enabling success message to the first
terminal. The first
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terminal performs, after receiving the enabling success message, an operation
of enabling the
virtual SIM card.According to the method for multiple terminals to share a
virtual subscriber
identity module SIM card in the present invention, each terminal that shares a
virtual SIM
card stores one virtual SIM card as described above, and the virtual card
server manages and
controls the terminals, so as to ensure that only one of the terminals uses
the virtual SIM card
to access a mobile network at a same moment, thereby implementing that a
plurality
terminals of a same subscriber exclusively uses one virtual SIM card to access
the mobile
network, which simplifies operation steps for the multiple terminals to share
the virtual SIM
card.
Embodiment 2
The request for enabling the virtual SIM card may further include a subscriber
identity.
Further, the first terminal may automatically obtain a terminal identifier of
the first
terminal and the subscriber identity according to the subscriber instruction,
and add them
together with the virtual SIM card identifier to the request for enabling the
virtual SIM card.
Before step 120, the method further includes: determining whether a
subscription
relationship exists between the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card
identifier; and if
the subscription relationship exists between the subscriber identity and the
virtual SIM card
identifier, performing a next step; otherwise, ending the procedure. The
determining whether
the subscription relationship exists between the subscriber identity and the
virtual SIM card
identifier can ensure that only an authorized subscriber, that is, a
subscriber that has
subscribed to the virtual SIM card, can enable the virtual SIM card.
Moreover, in step 120, the determining, according to the virtual SIM card
identifier,
whether the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card is: querying an
enabling
relationship table according to the virtual SIM card identifier to determine
whether the second
terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, where the enabling relationship
table is shown in
the following Table 1 and at least includes the virtual SIM card identifier,
the terminal
identifier, and the enabling indication. It may be learned, by querying the
enabling
relationship table, whether the second terminal except the first terminal and
corresponding to
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the virtual SIM card identifier has enabled the virtual SIM card.
Table 1 Enabling relationship table
Terminal identifier Terminal type Virtual SIM card Enabling
identifier indication
D100001 Mobile phone V00001 Enabled
D100002 Tablet computer V00001 Disabled
D100003 Mobile phone V00001 Disabled
D200001 Mobile phone V00002 Disabled
D300001 Mobile phone V00003 Disabled
The step in this embodiment may be combined with Embodiment 1.
Embodiment 3
A terminal that has enabled the virtual SIM card may disable the virtual SIM
card after
enabling the virtual SIM card for a period of time, so that another terminal
can enable the
virtual SIM card.
FIG 2 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to disable a shared
virtual SIM
card according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. As shown in FIG 2,
the method
may further include the following steps:
210. Receive a request, sent by the first terminal, for disabling the virtual
SIM card,
where the request for disabling the virtual SIM card includes the subscriber
identity, the
terminal identifier of the first terminal, and the virtual SIM card
identifier.
Further, the terminal may automatically obtain the subscriber identity, the
terminal
identifier, and the virtual SIM card identifier according to the subscriber
instruction and
generate the request for disabling the virtual SIM card, and send the request
for disabling the
virtual SIM card to the virtual card server.
220. Determine whether the subscription relationship exists between the
subscriber
identity and the virtual SIM card identifier; and if the subscription
relationship exists between
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the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier, perform a next
step; otherwise, end
the procedure.
Further, when the subscription relationship exists between the subscriber
identity and the
virtual SIM card identifier, it indicates that a subscriber corresponding to
the subscriber
identity has subscribed to the virtual SIM card in advance; the subscriber has
permission to
disable the virtual SIM card only in this case; otherwise, the subscriber has
no permission to
disable the virtual SIM card, and the virtual card server feeds back a first
disabling error
message to the terminal, so as to notify the subscriber that the subscriber
has not subscribed
to the virtual SIM card.
230. Determine, according to the terminal identifier of the first terminal and
the virtual
SIM card identifier, whether the first terminal has enabled the virtual SIM
card; and if the
first terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, disable the virtual SIM card
for the first
terminal.
Further, in this step, the enabling relationship table shown in Embodiment 2
may be
queried to determine whether the first terminal has enabled the virtual SIM
card. The first
terminal has permission to disable the virtual SIM card only when the first
terminal has
enabled the virtual SIM card in advance; otherwise, the first terminal has no
permission to
disable the virtual SIM card, and the virtual card server feeds back a second
disabling error
message to the terminal, so as to notify the first terminal that the first
terminal has not
enabled the virtual SIM card. The disabling the virtual SIM card for the first
terminal
includes: indicating that the virtual SIM card is disabled on the first
terminal, and sending a
disabling success message to the first terminal, where the first terminal
performs, after
receiving the disabling success message, an operation of disabling the virtual
SIM card.
The steps in this embodiment may be combined with Embodiment 1 or 2, and are
generally performed after the first terminal enables the virtual SIM card.
Embodiment 4
A process in which a subscriber subscribes to a virtual SIM card may be
similar to an
existing online shopping procedure, for example, a client or a browser is used
to subscribe a
CA 02912740 2015-11-17
virtual SIM card on an online store of a virtual card operator. In addition,
Embodiment 4
provides an embodiment of a specific subscription method.
FIG 3 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. As shown in FIG 3, the
method may
further include the following steps:
310. Receive a request, sent by the first terminal, for subscribing to the
virtual SIM card,
where the request for subscribing to the virtual SIM card includes the
subscriber identity and
the virtual SIM card identifier.
Further, the virtual card server may present available virtual SIM card
identifiers to the
subscriber in advance by using a network for the subscriber to select, and
generate a
subscriber instruction after selection of the subscriber and input the
subscriber instruction to
the first terminal; and the first terminal generates, according to the
subscriber instruction and
the subscriber identity that is registered by the subscriber in advance, the
request for
subscribing to the virtual SIM card, and sends the request for subscribing to
the virtual SIM
card to the virtual card server.
320. Generate an order according to the subscriber identity and the virtual
SIM card
identifier, and send an order number of the order to the first terminal, where
the order
includes the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier.
Further, the order records the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card
identifier, and
moreover, may additionally record a current state which is that no payment is
made. The
order number corresponds to the order in a one-to-one manner.
330. Receive a payment result notification that is fed back by a third-party
payment
server according to a payment request sent by the first terminal, where both
the payment
request and the payment result notification include the order number.
Further, the first terminal sends the payment request to the third-party
payment server
after receiving the order number, where the payment request includes the order
number and
related information such as a bank account. The third-party payment server
generates the
payment result notification after performing, according to the payment
request, an operation
of fee deduction, where the payment result notification includes the order
number; and feeds
back the payment result notification to the virtual card server.
16
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340. Determine, according to the payment result notification, whether the
first terminal
has paid successfully, and if the first terminal has paid successfully, obtain
the subscriber
identity and the virtual SIM card identifier in the corresponding order
according to the order
number in the payment result notification, establish the subscription
relationship between the
subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier, and send a
subscription success
message to the first terminal.
Further, after the first terminal has paid successfully, the virtual card
server establishes a
subscription relationship table shown in the following Table 2 according to
the subscriber
identity and the virtual SIM card identifier in the corresponding order, and
sends a
subscription virtual success message to the first terminal, so as to notify
the subscriber that
the virtual SIM card is downloadable.
Table 2 Subscription relationship table
Subscriber identity Virtual SIM card identifier Operator Amount ($)
U00001 V00001 China Mobile 100
U00002 V00002 China Telecom 200
U00003 V00003 Vodafone 150
The steps in this embodiment may be combined with Embodiment 1, 2, or 3, and
are
generally completed before the first terminal stores the virtual SIM card.
Embodiment 5
A subscriber may download a virtual SIM card after subscribing to the virtual
SIM card.
Embodiment 5 provides a specific downloading method.
FIG 4 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. As shown in FIG 4, the
method may
further include the following steps:
410. Establish a secure communication channel to the first terminal.
Further, the secure communication channel may be implemented based on WiFi, or
a
17
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virtual SIM card capable of accessing the Internet. may be preset on the first
terminal at
delivery, so that the subscriber may have an Internet access capability when
the first terminal
is purchased. Moreover, the virtual SIM card preset on the first terminal is
capable of
accessing only limited services, for example, a service of a manufacturer of
the first terminal
and a service of a virtual card operator. In addition, in the foregoing
Embodiment 4, the
process in which the first terminal subscribes to the virtual SIM card may
also be
implemented based on the preset virtual SIM card.
420. Receive, by using the secure communication channel, a request for
downloading the
virtual SIM card and sent by the first terminal, where the request for
downloading the virtual
SIM card includes the subscriber identity, the terminal identifier of the
first terminal, and the
virtual SIM card identifier.
Further, the terminal may generate, according to a subscriber instruction, the
request for
downloading the virtual SIM card, and send the request for downloading the
virtual SIM card
to the virtual card server.
430. Determine whether the subscription relationship exists between the
subscriber
identity and the virtual SIM card identifier; and if the subscription
relationship exists between
the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier, perform a next
step; otherwise, end
the procedure.
Further, when the subscription relationship exists between the subscriber
identity and the
virtual SIM card identifier, it indicates that a subscriber corresponding to
the subscriber
identity has subscribed to the virtual SIM card in advance; the subscriber has
permission to
download the virtual SIM card only in this case; otherwise, the subscriber has
no permission
to download the virtual SIM card, and the virtual card server feeds back
download error
information to the terminal, so as to notify the subscriber that the
subscriber has not
subscribed to the virtual SIM card.
440. Establish a binding relationship between the terminal identifier of the
first terminal
and the virtual SIM card identifier, and send the virtual SIM card to the
first terminal by using
the secure communication channel.
Further, at the same time when sending the virtual SIM card to the first
terminal, the
virtual card server stores a binding relationship table, which is similar to
that shown in table 3,
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between the terminal identifier and the virtual SIM card identifier, so as to
record terminal
identifiers of all terminals that downloaded the virtual SIM card, thereby
facilitating
subsequent determining of whether a corresponding terminal has permission to
enable the
virtual SIM card. A column of an enabling state is Disabled at an initial
state, and is updated
to Enabled after a terminal applies for enabling the virtual SIM card and is
allowed by the
virtual card server, where 1 and 0 may be used to indicate Enabled and
Disabled respectively.
Table 3 Binding relationship table
Subscriber Terminal Terminal type Virtual SIM Enabling
identity identifier card identifier state
U00001 D100001 Mobile phone V00001 Enabled
U00001 D100002 Tablet computer V00001 Disabled
U00001 D100003 Mobile phone V00001 Disabled
U00002 D200001 Mobile phone V00002 Disabled
U00003 D300001 Mobile phone V00003 Disabled
The steps in this embodiment may be combined with Embodiment 1, 2, 3, or 4,
and are
generally completed before the first terminal stores the virtual SIM card.
Embodiment 6
In Embodiment 6, after step 120, the method further includes the following
step: if the
second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, preventing the first
terminal from enabling
the virtual SIM card.
In other words, in this embodiment, when another terminal except the first
terminal has
enabled the virtual SIM card and has not disabled the virtual SIM card, the
virtual card server
prevents the first terminal from enabling the virtual SIM card.
The method according to this embodiment may be combined with Embodiment 1, 2,
3, 4,
or 5.
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Embodiment 7
In Embodiment 7, after step 120, the method further includes the following
step: if the
second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, enabling the virtual SIM
card for the first
terminal after disabling the virtual SIM card for the second terminal.
In other words, in this embodiment, when another terminal except the first
terminal has
enabled the virtual SIM card and has not disabled the virtual SIM card, after
receiving the
request of the first terminal for enabling the virtual SIM card, the virtual
card server allows
the first terminal to preempt the virtual SIM card, that is, forces the second
terminal to disable
the virtual SIM card and enables the virtual SIM card for the first terminal.
The method according to this embodiment may be combined with Embodiment 1, 2,
3, 4,
or 5.
Embodiment 8
FIG 5 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 8 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, in the
method
according to Embodiment 8, a first terminal sends a request for enabling the
virtual SIM card
to a virtual card server, and the first terminal and a second terminal store
data of a same
virtual SIM card.
The method includes the following steps:
510. The first terminal sends the request for enabling the virtual SIM card to
the virtual
card server, where the request for enabling the virtual SIM card includes a
virtual SIM card
identifier.
520. The first terminal receives an enabling response message that is sent by
the virtual
card server after determining, according to the virtual SIM card identifier,
whether the second
terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, where if the second terminal has
not enabled the
virtual SIM card, the enabling response message is an enabling success
message.
530. The first terminal enables the virtual SIM card after receiving the
enabling success
message.
In addition, when the first terminal does not receive, within preset duration
because of a
CA 02912740 2015-11-17
reason such as a network exception, the enabling response message fed back by
the virtual
card server, the first terminal may re-send the request for enabling the
virtual SIM card to the
virtual card server, so as to trigger the virtual card server to feed back the
enabling response
message to the terminal again after performing corresponding determining
again, and may
also send a state retransmission request to the virtual card server, so as to
trigger the virtual
card server to retransmit the previously generated enabling response message.
Embodiment 9
FIG 6 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 9 of the present invention. As shown in FIG 6, the
method may
further include the following steps:
610. The first terminal sends a request for disabling the virtual SIM card to
the virtual
card server, where the request for disabling the virtual SIM card includes a
subscriber identity,
a terminal identifier of the first terminal, and the virtual SIM card
identifier.
620. The first terminal receives a disabling response message that is sent by
the virtual
card server after determining whether a subscription relationship exists
between the
subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier and determining,
according to the
terminal identifier of the first terminal and the virtual SIM card identifier,
whether the first
terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, where when the subscription
relationship exists
between the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier and the
first terminal has
enabled the virtual SIM card, the disabling response message is a disabling
success message.
When no subscription relationship exists between the subscriber identity and
the virtual
SIM card identifier, the disabling response message generally is a first
disabling error
message, so as to notify the subscriber that the subscriber has not subscribed
to the virtual
SIM card; and when the first terminal has not enabled the virtual SIM card,
the disabling
response message generally is a second disabling error message, so as to
notify the subscriber
that the subscriber has not enabled the virtual SIM card.
630. The first terminal disables the virtual SIM card after receiving the
disabling success
message.
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The method according to this embodiment may be combined with Embodiment 8, and
is
generally performed after the first terminal enables the virtual SIM card.
In addition, when the first terminal does not receive the disabling response
message of
the virtual card server within the preset duration because of the reason such
as the network
exception, the first terminal may re-send the request for disabling the
virtual SIM card to the
virtual card server, so as to trigger the virtual card server to re-send the
disabling response
message to the first terminal after performing corresponding determining
again, and may also
send the state retransmission request to the virtual card server, so as to
trigger the virtual card
server to retransmit the previously generated disabling response message.
Embodiment 10
FIG 7 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 10 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the
method may
further include the following steps:
710. The first terminal sends a request for subscribing to the virtual SIM
card to the
virtual card server, where the request for subscribing to the virtual SIM card
includes the
subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier.
Further, the virtual card server may present available virtual SIM card
identifiers to the
subscriber in advance by using a network for the subscriber to select, and
generate a
subscriber instruction after selection of the subscriber and input the
subscriber instruction to
the first terminal; and the first terminal generates, according to the
subscriber instruction and
the subscriber identity that is registered by the subscriber in advance, the
request for
subscribing to the virtual SIM card, and sends the request for subscribing to
the virtual SIM
card to the virtual card server.
720. The first terminal receives an order number that is sent by the virtual
card server
according to the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier.
730. The first terminal sends a payment request to a third-party payment
server, where
the payment request includes the order number.
Further, the first terminal may send the payment request to the third-party
payment server
22
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according to the subscriber instruction after receiving the order number,
where the payment
request includes the order number and related information such as a bank
account. The
third-party payment server generates the payment result notification after
performing,
according to the payment request, an operation of fee deduction, where the
payment result
notification includes the order number; and feeds back the payment result
notification to the
virtual card server.
740. The first terminal receives a subscription response message that is fed
back by the
virtual card server after determining, according to a payment result
notification sent by the
third-party payment server, whether the first terminal has paid successfully,
where the
payment result notification includes the order number, and when the payment
result
notification indicates that the first terminal has paid successfully, the
response message is a
subscription success message.
The method according to this embodiment may be combined with Embodiment 8 or
9,
and is generally performed before the first terminal stores the virtual SIM
card.
Embodiment 11
FIG 8 is a flowchart of a method for multiple terminals to share a virtual SIM
card
according to Embodiment 11 of the present invention. As shown in FIG 8, the
method may
further include the following steps:
810. The first terminal establishes a secure communication channel to the
virtual card
server.
Further, the secure communication channel may be implemented based on WiFi, or
a
virtual SIM card capable of accessing the Internet may be preset on the first
terminal at
delivery, so that the subscriber may have an Internet access capability when
the first terminal
is purchased. Moreover, the virtual SIM card preset on the first terminal is
capable of
accessing only limited services, for example, a service of a manufacturer of
the first terminal
and a service of a virtual card operator. In addition, in the foregoing
Embodiment 11, the
process in which the terminal subscribes to the virtual SIM card may also be
implemented
based on the preset virtual SIM card.
23
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820. The first terminal sends, by using The secure communication channel, a
request for
downloading the virtual SIM card to the virtual card server, where the request
for
downloading the virtual SIM card includes the subscriber identity, the
terminal identifier of
the first terminal, and the virtual SIM card identifier.
830. The first terminal receives, by using the secure communication channel, a
downloading response message that is sent by the virtual card server after
determining
whether the subscription relationship exists between the subscriber identity
and the virtual
SIM card identifier, where when the subscription relationship exists between
the subscriber
identity and the virtual SIM card identifier, the virtual card server
establishes a binding
relationship between the terminal identifier of the first terminal and the
virtual SIM card
identifier, where the downloading response message is a downloading success
message.
840. The first terminal downloads the virtual SIM card after receiving the
downloading
success message, and stores the virtual SIM card.
The method according to this embodiment may be combined with Embodiment 8, 9,
or
10, and is generally performed before the first terminal stores the virtual
SIM card.
Embodiment 12
FIG 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a virtual card server for
implementing that
multiple terminals share a virtual SIM card according to Embodiment 12 of the
present
invention. As shown in FIG 9, the virtual card server 900 includes a
communications unit
910 and a determining unit 920.
The communications unit 910 is configured to receive a request, sent by a
first terminal,
for enabling the virtual SIM card, where the request for enabling the virtual
SIM card
includes a virtual SIM card identifier.
The determining unit 920 is configured to determine, according to the virtual
SEM card
identifier, whether a second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card; and
enable the virtual
SIM card for the first terminal if the second terminal has not enabled the
virtual SIM card.
The first terminal and the second terminal store data of the same virtual SIM
card.
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=
Embodiment 13
In this embodiment, the determining unit 920 is configured to query an
enabling
relationship table according to the virtual SIM card identifier to determine
whether the second
terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, where the enabling relationship
table includes the
virtual SIM card identifier, a terminal identifier, and an enabling
indication.
In addition, the request for enabling the virtual SIM card further includes a
subscriber
identity.
Correspondingly, the determining unit 920 is further configured to determine
whether a
subscription relationship exists between the subscriber identity and the
virtual SIM card
identifier, and if the subscription relationship exists between the subscriber
identity and the
virtual SIM card identifier, perform the step of determining, according to the
virtual SIM card
identifier, whether the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card.
Embodiment 14
In this embodiment, the communications unit 910 is further configured to
receive a
request, sent by a first terminal, for disabling the virtual SIM card, where
the request for
disabling the virtual SIM card includes a subscriber identity, a terminal
identifier of the first
terminal, and the virtual SIM card identifier.
The determining unit 920 is further configured to determine whether a
subscription
relationship exists between the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card
identifier; if the
subscription relationship exists between the subscriber identity and the
virtual SIM card
identifier, determine, according to the terminal identifier of the first
terminal and the virtual
SIM card identifier, whether the first terminal has enabled the virtual SIM
card; and if the
first terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, disable the virtual SIM card
for the first
terminal.
Embodiment 15
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG 10, the virtual card server 900 further
includes an
order unit 1010 for processing a related procedure in which a terminal
subscribes to a virtual
CA 02912740 2015-11-17
k
SIM card.
Further, the communications unit 910 is further configured to receive a
request, sent by a
first terminal, for subscribing to the virtual SIM card, where the request for
subscribing to the
virtual SIM card includes a subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card
identifier.
The order unit 1010 is configured to generate an order according to the
subscriber
identity and the virtual SIM card identifier, and send an order number of the
order to the first
terminal, where the order includes the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM
card identifier.
The communications unit 910 is further configured to receive a payment result
notification that is fed back by a third-party payment server according to a
payment request
sent by the first terminal, where both the payment request and the payment
result notification
include the order number.
The determining unit 920 is further configured to determine, according to the
payment
result notification, whether the first terminal has paid successfully, and if
the first terminal
has paid successfully, obtain the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card
identifier in the
corresponding order according to the order number in the payment result
notification,
establish a subscription relationship between the subscriber identity and the
virtual SIM card
identifier, and send a subscription success message to the first terminal.
Embodiment 16
In this embodiment, the determining unit 920 is further configured to: when
determining,
according to the virtual SIM card identifier, whether the second terminal has
enabled the
virtual SIIVI card, and if the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM
card, prevent the first
terminal from enabling the virtual SIM card.
This embodiment may be combined with Embodiment 12, 13, 14, or 15.
Embodiment 17
In this embodiment, when determining, according to the virtual SIM card
identifier,
whether the second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, and if the
second terminal has
enabled the virtual SIM card, the determining unit enables the virtual SIM
card for the first
26
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terminal after disabling the virtual SIM card for the second terminal.
This embodiment may be combined with Embodiment 12, 13, 14, or 15.
Embodiment 18
FIG 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal for implementing that
multiple
terminals share a virtual SIM card according to Embodiment 18 of the present
invention,
where the terminal includes a first terminal and a second terminal that store
data of a same
virtual SIM card. As shown in FIG. 11, the first terminal 1100 includes a
communications unit
1110 and a management unit 1120.
The communications unit 1110 is configured to send a request for enabling the
virtual
SIM card to a virtual card server, where the request for enabling the virtual
SIM card includes
a virtual SIM card identifier, and
receive an enabling response message that is sent by the virtual card server
after
determining, according to the virtual SIM card identifier, whether the second
terminal has
enabled the virtual SIM card, where if the second terminal has not enabled the
virtual SIM
card, the enabling response message is an enabling success message.
The management unit 1120 is configured to enable the virtual SIM card after
the
communications unit receives the enabling success message. In addition, the
second terminal
and the first terminal have a same structure, which is not described
repeatedly.
Embodiment 19
In this embodiment, the communications unit 1110 is further configured to send
a request
for disabling the virtual SIM card to the virtual card server, where the
request for disabling
the virtual SIM card includes a subscriber identity, a terminal identifier of
the first terminal,
and the virtual SIM card identifier, and
receive a disabling response message that is sent by the virtual card server
after
determining whether a subscription relationship exists between the subscriber
identity and the
virtual SIM card identifier and determining, according to the terminal
identifier of the first
terminal and the virtual srm card identifier, whether the first terminal has
enabled the virtual
27
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SIM card, where if the subscription relationship exists between the subscriber
identity and the
virtual SIM card identifier and when the first terminal has enabled the
virtual SIM card, the
disabling response message is a disabling success message.
The management unit 1120 is further configured to disable the virtual SIM card
after the
communications unit receives the disabling success message.
Embodiment 20
In this embodiment, the communications unit 1110 is further configured to send
a request
for subscribing to the virtual SIM card to the virtual card server, where the
request for
subscribing to the virtual SIM card includes a subscriber identity and the
virtual SIM card
identifier, and
receive an order number that is sent by the virtual card server according to
the subscriber
identity and the virtual SIM card identifier; send a payment request to a
third-party payment
server, where the payment request includes the order number; and receive a
subscription
response message that is fed back by the virtual card server after
determining, according to a
payment result notification sent by the third-party payment server, whether
the first terminal
has paid successfully, where the payment result notification includes the
order number, and if
the payment result notification indicates that the first terminal has paid
successfully, the
subscription response message is a subscription success message.
Embodiment 21
This embodiment provides a system for multiple terminals to share a virtual
SIM card,
where the system includes the virtual card server according to any one of
Embodiments 12 to
17 and the terminal according to any one of Embodiments 18 to 20.
The virtual card server in this embodiment of the present invention may be
implemented
based on a computer system, and the methods shown in FIG 1, FIG 2, FIG. 3, and
FIG 4 may
all be implemented on the virtual card server based on the computer system.
FIG 12 shows
an embodiment of a virtual card server implemented based on a computer system.
The virtual
card server in this embodiment may include a processor 1201, a memory 1202,
and a
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CA 02912740 2015-11-17
communications interface 1203.
The communications interface 1203 is configured to communicate with a first
terminal.
Messages (as shown in method embodiments in FIG 1, FIG 2, FIG. 3, and FIG 4)
exchanged
between the first terminal and the virtual card server all are sent and
received through the
communications interface 1203. Further, the communications interface 1203 is
configured to
receive a request for enabling a virtual SIM card, a request for disabling the
virtual SIM card,
and a request for subscribing to the virtual SIM card that are sent by the
first terminal.
The memory 1202 is configured to store a program instruction.
The processor 1201 is configured to: after the request for enabling the
virtual SIM card
and sent by the first terminal is received, invoke the program instruction
stored in the
memory 1202 to perform the following operations: determining, according to a
virtual SIM
card identifier, whether a second terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card;
and enabling the
virtual SIM card for the first terminal if the second terminal has not enabled
the virtual SIM
card.
The processor 1201 is further configured to: after the request for disabling
the virtual
SIM card and sent by the terminal is received, invoke the program instruction
stored in the
memory 1202 to perform the following operations: determining whether a
subscription
relationship exists between a subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card
identifier; if the
subscription relationship exists between a subscriber identity and the virtual
SIM card
identifier, determining, according to the terminal identifier of the first
terminal and the virtual
SIM card identifier, whether the first terminal has enabled the virtual SIM
card; and if the
first terminal has enabled the virtual SIM card, disabling the virtual SIM
card for the first
terminal.
The processor 1201 is further configured to: after the request for subscribing
to the
virtual SlM card sent by the terminal is received, invoke the program
instruction stored in the
memory 1202 to perform the following operations:
generating an order according to the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM
card
identifier, and sending an order number of the order to the first terminal,
where the order
includes the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier;
receiving a payment result notification that is fed back by a third-party
payment server
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CA 02912740 2015-11-17
according to a payment request sent by the fir ,t terminal, where both the
payment request and
the payment result notification include the order number; and
determining, according to the payment result notification, whether the first
terminal has
paid successfully, and if the first terminal has paid successfully, obtaining
the subscriber
identity and the virtual SIM card identifier in the corresponding order
according to the order
number in the payment result notification, establishing a subscription
relationship between
the subscriber identity and the virtual SIM card identifier, and sending a
subscription success
message to the first terminal.
The processor 1201 may be a central processing unit (central processing unit,
CPU), an
application-specific integrated circuit (application-specific integrated
circuit, ASIC), or the
like. The virtual card server in this embodiment may include a bus 1204. The
processor 1201,
the memory 1202, and the communications interface 1203 may be connected to and
communicate with each other by using the bus 1204. The memory 1202 may include
an entity
having a storage function, such as a random access memory (random access
memory, RAM),
a read-only memory (read-only memory, ROM), or a magnetic disk.
The first terminal in this embodiment of the present invention may be
implemented based
on a computer system, and the methods shown in FIG 5, FIG 6, FIG. 7, and FIG 8
may all be
implemented on the terminal based on the computer system. FIG. 13 shows an
embodiment of
a first terminal implemented based on a computer system. The first terminal in
this
embodiment may include a processor 1301, a memory 1302, and a communications
interface
1303.
The communications interface 1303 is configured to communicate with the
virtual card
server. Messages (as shown in method embodiments in FIG. 5, FIG 6, FIG. 7, and
FIG. 8)
exchanged between the first terminal and the virtual card server all are sent
and received
through the communications interface 1303. The memory 1302 is configured to
store a
program instruction.
The processor 1301 is configured to enable the virtual SIM card after
receiving an
enabling success message.
The processor 1301 is further configured to disable the virtual SIM card after
receiving a
disabling success message.
CA 02912740 2015-11-17
The processor 1301 may be a central processing .unit (central processing unit,
CPU), an
application-specific integrated circuit (application-specific integrated
circuit, ASIC), or the
like. The first terminal in this embodiment may include a bus 1304. The
processor 1301, the
memory 1302, and the communications interface 1303 may be connected to and
communicate with each other by using the bus 1304. The memory 1302 may include
an entity
having a storage function, such as a random access memory (random access
memory, RAM),
a read-only memory (read-only memory, ROM), or a magnetic disk.
In addition, the second terminal and the first terminal have a same hardware
structure,
which is not described repeatedly.
According to the method, the terminal, the server, and the system for multiple
terminals
to share a virtual SIM card in the embodiments of the present invention, a
first terminal and a
second terminal store data of a same virtual SIM card, and the method
includes: receiving a
request, sent by the first terminal, for enabling the virtual SIM card, where
the request for
enabling the virtual SIM card includes a virtual SIM card identifier;
determining, according
to the virtual SIM card identifier, whether the second terminal has enabled
the virtual SIM
card; and enabling the virtual SIM card for the first terminal if the second
terminal has not
enabled the virtual SIM card. According to the method for multiple terminals
to share a
virtual SIM card, each terminal that shares the virtual SIM card stores one
virtual SIM card as
described above, and a virtual card server manages and controls the terminals,
so as to ensure
that only one of the terminals uses the virtual SIM card to access a mobile
network at a same
moment, thereby implementing that a plurality terminals of a same subscriber
exclusively
uses one virtual SIM card to access the mobile network, which simplifies
operation steps for
the multiple terminals to share the virtual SIM card. =
A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that the aspects of the
present
invention or the possible implementation manners of the aspects may be
implemented as a
system, a method, or a computer program product. Therefore, the aspects of the
present
invention or the possible implementation manners of the aspects may use a form
of an
entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including
firmware,
resident software, and the like), or an embodiment combining software and
hardware aspects,
which are all generally be referred to as a "circuit", a "module", or a
"system". In addition,
31
CA 02912740 2015-12-04
52663-161
the aspects of the present invention or the possible implementation manners of
the aspects
may use a form of a computer program product, and the computer program product
refers to
computer-readable program code stored in a computer-readable medium.
The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a
computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium
includes but is
=
not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or
semi-conductor
system, terminal, or apparatus or any proper combination of the foregoing,
such as a random
access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-
only
memory (EPROM or a flash memory), an optical fiber, or a portable read-only
memory
(CD-ROM).
A processor in the computer reads the computer-readable program code in the
computer-readable medium, so that the processor can perform a functional
action specified in
each step or a combination of steps in a flowchart, and generate an apparatus
that implements
a functional action specified in each block or a combination of blocks in a
block diagram.
The computer-readable program code can be performed completely on a computer
of a
subscriber, partially on the computer of the subscriber, as an independent
software package,
partially on the computer of the subscriber, partially on a remote computer,
or completely on
the remote computer or a remote server. It should also be noted that in some
replacement
implementation solutions, the steps in the flowchart or functions specified by
the blocks in
the block diagram may not occur in a sequence specified in the diagram. For
example,
depending on an involved function, two steps or two blocks that are specified
continuously
may be performed almost simultaneously, or these blocks may be performed in a
reversed
sequence sometime.
It is obvious that a person skilled in the art may make various modifications
and
alternations to the present invention without departing from the scope of the
present
invention. In this way, the present invention is also intended to include
these modifications
and alterations if the modifications and alterations to the present invention
fall within the
scope of the claims and equivalent technologies of the present invention.
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